‘The Wrong Mans’: Jillian Bell To Star In Showtime Comedy

In a gender switch from the original British series, Jillian Bell (22 Jump Street) is set as a lead opposite Ben Schwartz in The Wrong Mans, Showtime’s remake of the UK comedy that was created by and starred James Corden & Matthew Baynton. The U.S. version hails from The Late Late Show host Corden, Baynton, J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Prods., Warner Bros. TV and BBC Studios.

Written by Corden, Baynton and U.S. TV writer Ian Maxtone-Graham (The Simpsons) and directed by the original series’ director Jim Field Smith, The Wrongs Mans is an action-comedy about two ordinary office workers who have their menial existence turned upside-down by a chance phone call and a case of mistaken identity: “If you are not here by 5 o’clock, we will kill your wife.” As the only people who can help, these two unlikely characters must find their inner hero in their quest to save not just themselves, but their loved ones and ultimately their whole town.

Bell will play Anna, based on the role of Phil, played by Corden in the original. A co-worker of Sam (Schwartz), Anna is a somewhat deluded fantasist who lives with her mother and has such an empty life that she leaps at the opportunity to join Sam in saving the kidnapped woman. Whereas Sam just wants to get on with his quite ordinary life, Anna is desperate for excitement and extremely unrealistic about her capacity as an action hero.

Corden will executive produce via his Fulwell 73 Productions alongside Bad Robot’s J.J. Abrams and Ben Stephenson, BBC Studios’ Angie Stephenson as well as Baynton, Maxtone-Graham and Smith. Schwartz will be a producer. WBTV, where Bad Robot is based, is the studio.

Emmy-nominated for her writing on Saturday Night Live, Bell has appeared in film and television projects including 22 Jump Street, Rough Night, Workaholics, Eastbound & Down, Fist Fight, The Night Before, Idiotsitter (which she co-created), Partners and Curb Your Enthusiasm. She’s also done voice-over turns including The Angry Birds Movie, Gravity Falls, American Dad! and Bob’s Burgers. Bell is repped by UTA, 3 Arts Entertainment and Stone, Genow, Smelkinson, Binder & Christopher, LLP.